Sayers Sister

Note: We visited a few of months ago, I wrote the review then but couldn’t decide whether to post it or not. Upon re-reading it I’ve decided its worth putting it out there, feel free to let me know what you think.

As you may it may not be aware, I have a policy against writing negative reviews. Not because I’m protecting the cafe or because I can’t be bothered, but because I want the places I blog about to be ones that you can go to and enjoy. I was really conflicted about writing this review because it’s pretty close to that line which makes it a bad experience. I’ve gone ahead with it because there were some great things about Sayers Sister and because I recognize things that go beyond the food itself that make people want to go there that I think are worthwhile exploring.

If you’re not aware, Sayers Sister is the younger sister of the Sayers in Leederville and both Sayers venues have become institutions in the Perth breakfast scene. You’ll find Sayers Sister on Lake St North Perth with plenty of parking around and a chilled vibe.

Inside the cafe boasts plenty of comfy armchairs with a long, bench style shared table running down the middle. Ordering and payments are at the counter. We were greeted by a friendly, but a little too enthusiastic waiter who explained their summer drink specials to us as well as their usual menu.

Not being able to resist the sound of the Coco Loco, a cacao coconut water with a touch of rice milk, it was the first thing we tried. Served with ice and in a large mason jar with a handle, this drink was a mix of rich chocolate, with the lightness of coconut water and incredibly refreshing. We would highly recommend you catch it before it’s gone!

Here’s the part where the review becomes conflicted, a juice we ordered simply did not arrive. Eventually we accepted this fact, asked, and were given our money back. It was very disappointing for a cafe that has such a reputation, and the nonchalance with which they dealt with the issue suggested this may happen on a regular basis. To their credit they then brought out the juice, just as we were leaving but our experience had already been soured.

Aside from the juice we also ordered our usual coffees. Our lattes arrived quickly, and we were impressed by their flavour and creamy texture.

We sampled a few different things from their menu, one was exceedingly adventurous, while the others were more standard fare. Just for fun we’ll start with the adventurous, fried ricotta, honey, slivered almond, grilled fig wrapped in bacon, baby spinach and pesto on toast.

This dish from the get go didn’t know whether it was to be a savoury or sweet meal. Although it tasted good, in the sense that all the elements were tasty, it didn’t feel like it was meant to be. The honey, almond, ricotta and fig wrapped in bacon ‘top’ would have been a great sweet dish by itself, but equally the bacon, pesto and spinach felt right together. There wasn’t really enough honey either to make you really feel like it was supposed to be sweet. We enjoyed the dish, but ultimately its identity crisis puts us off wanting to try it again. It is important that cafés test the limits with dishes like this, and I think we were unlucky in that this particular dish just didn’t quite work on our visit.

Our other dish was the bruschetta, honestly it was nothing great, mediocre at best and for a cafe with a reputation like Sayers we would have expected better. That being said if you just want a nice meal, then this will meet that requirement.

Overall we were just a little underwhelmed by Sayers Sister, we had a good meal, but we feel like it could’ve been great. Go for the reputation, enjoy a decent feed, but there’s more interesting and less talked up breakfasts to be found around Perth.